Engineer goby and other sand dwellling goby

[DeniseAndy]

Well, I have been researching this for a while, and have come up with nothing to spread light on the subject.

I have an engineer goby that has been with me over 5 years. Full grown (when got it) and really fun. I was wondering about adding a different sand swelling goby. Possibly a sand sifter, maybe a watchman. I would love to add a pair of jawfish if possible.

It seems to me they would not be a good fit. My engineer takes the whole 210g tank as its playground.

Just looking for any experiences. I read some, but they were always baby engineers and never saw follow ups to see if mature engineers still matched up.

Thanks for any insight.

 

[KJ]

@eatbreakfast

 

[eatbreakfast]

I think it varies. I have seen some engineer gobies fine with sifters, others were aggressive. Engineer gobies will probably bother jawfish more.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Thanks. That is kind of what I thought. Guess I have to wait 10 years or so to get jawfish. Then again, I am not sure how old my goby is.

 

[molinast]

Was looking for a positive engineering goby post, to add my fondness of this fish. Figured this would be a good place.

I have a sand sifting goby in the tank also they do well together.

It’s neat to have something similar to an eel that’s reef safe.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I love my Engineer goby! I have 3 yellow head jawfish, a pink diamond watchman goby, and a Bella goby in my 380 gal. No problem with anyone. The jawfish' and Engineer even live on the same area. Love all these guys!

 

[DSC reef]

We had an opposite experience in a 125. An adult engineer goby we had since a juvenile was pretty aggressive towards a sleeper goby and radiant wrasse.

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

I love my Engineer goby! I have 3 yellow head jawfish, a pink diamond watchman goby, and a Bella goby in my 380 gal. No problem with anyone. The jawfish' and Engineer even live on the same area. Love all these guys!

I love the color change in the engineer gobies. Who wouldn't love that cute mug

 

[Leslie Tabor]

We had an opposite experience in a 125. An adult engineer goby we had since a juvenile was pretty aggressive towards a sleeper goby and radiant wrasse.

That is the fun thing about animals in general, they all have their own personality. I have a very territorial male Watanabei, which supposedly is unheard of. My Prometheus is a chicken, he rarely comes out from under his favorite rocks. Never in front of strangers lol

 

[Sashaka]

Well, I have been researching this for a while, and have come up with nothing to spread light on the subject.

I have an engineer goby that has been with me over 5 years. Full grown (when got it) and really fun. I was wondering about adding a different sand swelling goby. Possibly a sand sifter, maybe a watchman. I would love to add a pair of jawfish if possible.

It seems to me they would not be a good fit. My engineer takes the whole 210g tank as its playground.

Just looking for any experiences. I read some, but they were always baby engineers and never saw follow ups to see if mature engineers still matched up.

Thanks for any insight.

Well, I have been researching this for a while, and have come up with nothing to spread light on the subject.

I have an engineer goby that has been with me over 5 years. Full grown (when got it) and really fun. I was wondering about adding a different sand swelling goby. Possibly a sand sifter, maybe a watchman. I would love to add a pair of jawfish if possible.

It seems to me they would not be a good fit. My engineer takes the whole 210g tank as its playground.

Just looking for any experiences. I read some, but they were always baby engineers and never saw follow ups to see if mature engineers still matched up.

Thanks for any insight.

Hi DenniseAndy, I used to have two engineers in my 75 gal. They were purchased med. size. I had to get rid of the smaller of the two engineers because the bigger one picked on it all the time. There was a decorator goby or checkerboard goby (not sure which species) in with them and there were no issues. I now have two other engineers (grown from wee little ones) in my 180 gal. I love these fish! They are peaceful and entertaining. I love their eel-like appearance without having to worry about my smaller fish becoming a meal to a real eel. The new set of engineers in the 180 gal. live with an assortment of other bottom dwellers: One is a diamond goby and the other goby is the decorator from the 75 gal.). The gobies have established favorite living quarters and pretty much leave the others alone. I had more trouble from the two engineer gobies fighting over the same real estate when they got bigger than issues with fighting between other bottom dwellers. Still, my gobies in the 180 gal grew up with the other fish in the tank, so my two experiences with the engineers are different than adding new gobies to an established tank with full grown engineers. On the other hand, I tend to add new fish every few months to the 180gal and the engineers take it all in stride. So far I have not had any issues with the engineers and other fish. They even live with a midas blenny and a flametail pretty close to their digs and the three species didn't bother the other. I don't know if this is typical or an exception to the rule, sorry. Whatever you decide, let us know how it goes. Good luck!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Thanks for the info. Very helpful!

 

[GWHouston]

We got two engineer gobies today. I read where they do well in pairs. Also read some horror stories of the EG attacking and eating smaller fish and inverts. I hope this is all wrong. I saw a small banded eel to purchase but I knew he would kill the smaller fish. So when they showed me the fully grown EG, I had to have two juvies. Gonna add them to the DT very soon. They'll have to compete with the diamond goby for digging space.